Urszula Meyerin (also, ''Meierin''; 1570–1635) was a politically influential Polish courtier and

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

to King

Sigismund III of Poland Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Relig ...

. Her real

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

may have been ''Gienger'' (or ''Gienger von Grünbüchl''), but that remains in dispute;

Władysław Czapliński Władysław Czapliński (3 October 1905 in Tuchów – 17 August 1981 in Wrocław) was a Polish historian, a professor of the University of Wrocław, author of many popular books about Polish history. He finished his studies at the Jagiellonian ...

, ''Władysław IV i jego czasy'' (Władysław IV and His Times). PW "Wiedza Poweszechna". Warszawa 1976, p. 18 she signed her letters ''Ursula Meyerin''. In the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

, that surname means "chamberlain", "administrator", "manager".

Early life

Urszula was most likely born near

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria () was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarians, Bavarian tribes and ruled by List of rulers of Bavaria, dukes (''duces'') ...

in a poor

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family. She was the daughter of Anna, a Bavarian burgher lady, and (probably) one of the Habsburgs. Meyerin came to

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

as a child in the 1580s. She was pretty in her youth, and some time later was chosen by Maria Anna of Bavaria to become

to King

. Maria Anna's own daughter ( Anna of Habsburg) was fiancée to the

Polish King Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

, but was unattractive, and the Habsburgs had bad experiences with two marriages of King

Sigismund Augustus of Poland Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

. The girl joined Anne's

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

in Poland as a chamberlain in 1592.

Chamberlain

A devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Urszula had considerable influence on the King and Queen. Shortly after her arrival in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

she acquired knowledge of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and became involved in the affairs of state which made her very unpopular. Meyerin used her influence on the King to appoint her favourites to state positions. As a result, she was contemptuously called ''King's mistress'', ''minister in a skirt'' and ''Jesuit's bigotry''. The King's secretary

Jan Szczęsny Herburt Jan Szczęsny Herburt (12 January 1567 – 31 December 1616) was a Polish political writer, diplomat and a member of the Polish Sejm parliament. An early supporter of Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, he took part in many diplomatic missions, most no ...

called her "obscene

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

". Meyerin was a chamberlain (See also

Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

) of the Queen's court. Though she became the senior

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

to the King's children and supervisor of Royal Nurses, she was not held in high esteem among them (Urszula was especially loathed by a

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

nurse of prince Władysław, Scottish Mrs. Forbes). After the Queen's death in 1598 she did not leave

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

as did the other German Queen's ladies. The reason was her great attachment to the King and to young prince Władysław. Her tender letters to the prince are sometimes interpreted to contain more than a tutor's affection. In her constant correspondence with the Archduchess Maria she reported in details the life of King Sigismund and his court. ''I've never seen a man who would cry so much'' she reported on May 19, 1598, describing the monarch bidding farewell to his children before leaving for Sweden. As noted Stanisław Kobierzycki, she replaced the deceased Queen, since ''she was not unpleasant to the King'' (as wrote Archduchess Maria Anna). Rolka Sztokholmska

When Sigismund III married again in 1605 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

with a sister of his first wife,

Constance of Austria Constance of Austria (; ; ; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of King-Grand Duke Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir. Biography Constance was a daughte ...

, Urszula became her "close worries and consolations participant". She traveled in the Queen's carriage, dined with her at the same table, administered the court's treasury, and even assisted with official audiences with the King. Meyerin fostered the King's children and spoke to them mainly in Polish (their own mother communicated with them only in German). She never married and rejected all offers (even her great friend

Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł (1 July 1593 – 12 November 1656) was a Polish nobleman, a Reichfürst and a politician from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, who served as the Lithuanian Vice-chancellor from 1619, the Lithuanian Grand Ch ...

). As a chamberlain she was very thrifty and dressed mainly in a black Spanish dress. She corresponded with

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Ferdinand II and the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and received a

Golden Rose The Golden Rose (, ) is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection. Recipients have included churches and sanctuaries, royalty, mili ...

for an "exceptionally virtuous life". In 1617 during Władysław's expedition against Russia to regain the tsar's throne, he asked of her intervention in favour of

Marcin Kazanowski Marcin Kazanowski, (1563/66The year of birth is not certain due to several conflicting sources – 19 October 1636) was a szlachta, Polish noble, magnate, castellan of Halych, Halice from 1622, voivode of Podole Voivodeship from 1632 and Field Cr ...

who came into dispute with the Grand Hetman of Lithuania,

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (; 1561 – 24 September 1621) was a Polish–Lithuanian identity, Polish–Lithuanian military commander of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, who was from 1601 Field Hetman of Lithuania, and from 1605 Grand Hetman of Lit ...

. During the last year of Sigismund's life he was often seriously ill and Urszula become the real Polish

Duke of Lerma Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, 5th Marquess of Denia, 1st Count of Ampudia (1552/1553 – 17 May 1625), was a favourite of Philip III of Spain, the first of the '' validos'' ('most worthy') through whom the later H ...

, leaving him an increasingly peripheral figure. She signed official state documents instead of the King and received foreign

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

s. After the King's death in 1632 the imperial diplomat Arnoldin Mathias von Clarstein who came to Warsaw, turned with his requests first to Urszula who promised to support him in his efforts to obtain a loan. When Urszula frightened the sum demanded, Prince Władysław unexpectedly entered the audience chambers of the deceased King, ''he found us sitting together, smiled and asked me if it's not the right time for us to deal with the matter on the outside, in the winter garden, as long as uberius coram de quo''. Urszula died in 1635 at the Royal Castle and was buried in the Jesuit Church in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

with a solemn burial ceremony, almost like a Queen. Her grave was plundered and destroyed by Swedish and German troops during the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

in the 1650s.

Legacy

Urszula Meyerin died childless. All her

effigies An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

, including some by such great artists as Peter Claesz. Soutman or Christian Melich (Polish

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

s), were destroyed when the Royal Castle in Warsaw was ransacked and burned down during the

. A few months before her death, Władysław Vasa commissioned a painting, in which she sat in the middle of all the descendants of King Sigismund III, as a guide and guardian of the Vasa family. The canvas had semi-private character and expressed the idea ''Familia vasorum''. It is believed that one of the ladies in the painting ''Adoration of Our Lady of the Rosary'' from

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

(1599) depicts Urszula Meyerin. But it is more likely the mature blonde dressed according to Imperial court fashion and facing the King to represent Sigismund's mistress who was almost 30 at that time, than the effigy of a youth brunette in Polish costume as it is supposed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyerin, Urszula German nobility 1570 births 1635 deaths Nobility from Munich Mistresses of Polish royalty 16th-century Austrian people 17th-century Austrian people 17th-century Polish people Polish ladies-in-waiting 16th-century Polish women 17th-century Polish women 16th-century Austrian women 17th-century Austrian women